Author: Don Dingee

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OpenCL hits FPGA-based prototyping modules

OpenCL hits FPGA-based prototyping modules
by Don Dingee on 11-30-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: FPGA, S2C EDA

OpenCL brings algorithm development into a unified programming model regardless of the core, working across CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and even FPGAs. Intel has been pushing OpenCL programming for some time, particularly at the high end with “Knights Landing” processors. Where other vendors are focused on straight-up C high-level … Read More

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FPGAs allow customization of SEU mitigation

FPGAs allow customization of SEU mitigation
by Don Dingee on 11-16-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: Automotive, EDA, FPGA, Synopsys

Teams working on avionics, space-based electronics, weapons delivery systems, nuclear generating plants, medical imaging equipment, and other applications where radiation leads to single-event upsets (SEU) are already sensitive to functional safety requirements. What about automotive applications?

With electronic… Read More

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One chip and the MCU variant challenge disappears

One chip and the MCU variant challenge disappears
by Don Dingee on 11-09-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: eFPGA, Flex Logix, FPGA, IoT, IP

Merchant microcontrollers are usually made available in a wide range of variants based on one architecture with different peripheral payloads and packaging options. A couple of companies, notably Cypress with their PSoC families and Silicon Labs with the EFM8 Laser Bee… Read More

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Protium for the win in software development

Protium for the win in software development
by Don Dingee on 11-02-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: Cadence, EDA, Prototyping

Cadence Design Systems is a long-standing provider in hardware emulation, but a relative newcomer to FPGA-based prototyping. In an upcoming lunch and learn session on November 11 in San Jose, Cadence teams will be outlining their productivity strategy. What’s different with their approach and why is this worth a lunch?… Read More

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Behind the 3DEXPERIENCE for silicon

Behind the 3DEXPERIENCE for silicon
by Don Dingee on 10-31-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: Dassault Systemes, EDA

We’ve been covering the Dassault Systèmes “Silicon Thinking” platform for a while here, but, as I’m often prone to do, I wanted to explore the backstory to uncover more about the concept. With over 25M users of their product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, why is Dassault Systèmes becoming so interested in semiconductor… Read More

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Can one flow bring four domains together?

Can one flow bring four domains together?
by Don Dingee on 10-28-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: EDA, IoT, Siemens EDA

IoT edge device design means four domains – MEMS, analog, digital, and RF – not only work together, but often live on the same die (or substrate in a 2.5D process) and are optimized for power and size. Getting these domains to work together effective calls for an enhanced flow.

Historically, these domains have not played together … Read More

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Automation for managed system-of-systems design

Automation for managed system-of-systems design
by Don Dingee on 10-26-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: EDA, Siemens EDA

Anybody who has done any bus & board system design knows the problem. Merchant boards typically have standardized pinouts (after years of haggling in standards organizations) for the backplane bus, and a group of user-defined pins for daughtercard I/O. Homegrown systems usually have a just-as-carefully defined proprietary… Read More

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FPGAs for a few thousand devices more

FPGAs for a few thousand devices more
by Don Dingee on 10-24-2016 at 4:00 pm
Categories: Aldec, Automotive, EDA, FPGA, IoT, Xilinx

An incredibly pervasive trend at last year’s ARM TechCon was the IoT, and I expect this year to bring even more of the same, but with a twist. Where last year was mostly focused on ultra-low power edge devices and the mbed ecosystem, this year is likely to show a better balance of ideas across all three IoT tiers. I also expect a slew of … Read More